Victor (Sung-Yul) Rhee argues that faith in Hebrews is both Christologically and eschatologically oriented. In response to the assertion that faith in Hebrews is removed from Christ, he contends that the author of Hebrews portrays Jesus as both the model and object of faith. Rhee also maintains that the eschatological outlook in Hebrews is not the Hellenistic concept of visible and invisible reality, but the temporal orientation of present and future. The ethical aspects of faith must be interpreted within the context of Christology and eschatology to have a proper understanding of faith in Hebrews.
Victor Rhee
Analysis Christology Context Eschatology Ethics Faith Hebrews Jesus reality temporal orientation within
«It would be hard to find a better introduction to the concept of faith in Hebrews than that provided by Victor (Sung-Yul) Rhee. Its readability, viewpoint, conclusion, and novelty make it required reading for New Testament students. I am happy to recommend it.» (David Alan Black, Professor of New Testament and Greek, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary)
«There was a time when a near consensus of those doing Hebrews research understood the book to be quite out of step with the New Testament generally. However, the tide began turning several decades ago in terms of Hebrews’ thought-world, and recent research seems to be pointing to meaningful connections between this complex work and other literatures of the new convenant canon. In his book, Victor (Sung-Yul) Rhee offers a helpful challenge to push our understanding of faith in Hebrews beyond an ethical view, and even an eschatological view, to a conception of faith that is Christocentric at its core; that is, a faith that not only finds in Jesus its model but also its object. Although some readers will beg to differ with the author on specific points of exegesis and analysis of Hebrews’ structure, Rhee’s approach, showing Hebrews’ Christology as foundational for its hortatory material and thus significantly integrated with the challenge to faith, is sound and will need to be reckoned with in future treatments of the topic.»(George H. Guthrie, Perry Professor of Biblical Studies, Union University)
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